The funny thing in Go is that, no matter how good you are, you will always face periods where you just can’t seem to win a game. There was a famous football-coach who said the following:

On the field anyone will taste humiliation once or twice while playing. A player that never suffered from it doesn’t exist. But the first-class players as a tribute to all their efforts will quickly stand up.

The average players will stand up after a while and the losers, will keep lying down on the ground.

[Darells Royal Letter]

I think this fits the problem pretty well. If one imagines just how unimportant Go really is to us. Professional players are under constant pressure, always being forced to evolve as their livelihood depends on it. What more is it to us than just a passtime that holds no meaning to either our wellbeing or anything else.

Later today I went to Zürich to visit a Manga-shop (Jeeg) and to my great pleasure found the latest volume of Hikaru no Go in one of the shelves. Volume 21, the one in which the representatives for the Hokuto Cup are chosen. I couldn’t wait to read it and so on my way home I unwrapped the manga and read it on the train home.  It’s hard to explain why, but whenever I’m in a slump, reading Hikaru no Go will help me pull myself together and keep going. Even though the story is pure fiction, seeing how Hikaru struggles for respect and acknowledgement is a great motivation. It also makes think back to my very first visits at a go club when I didn’t even know that something as taisha existed ^^

The lesson learned is:

Don’t dwell on what went wrong. Instead, focus on what to do next. Spend your energies on moving forward, towrard finding the answer.

VincentV:  How did you get the idea to draw those caricatures?
cherisse:  Those caricatures are mostly experiments you’ll notice that i use various styles depending on who im drawing too
VincentV:  Do you have a favorite amongst them?
cherisse: i like leechangho the most, though many liked the cho u style
VincentV: alright thx a lot

More drawings of her can be found at her website at deviantArt.

If you have a Go site or blog,you are welcome to join the rating:
top361.com

It’s possible to vote/write reviews for rating members.
There are 2 separate section: Go Blogs and Go Websites.

I plan to announce some awards very soon for owners of the most popular websites and blogs.

What do you think about my new project? I have 9 Go-related websites now

I think the idea is pretty decent. So far no up-to-date collection of blogs and go-sites exist. Anyway, if you happen to know good sites or write some on your own, make sure to add them to the list.

It’s a bit difficult to get ones hands on pro game reviews, so most likely I won’t to post too many of them. However if you’re also interested in low-dan (1 – 4 dan) reviews, let me know and I’ll upload some of these to overcome the lean time.

However, before participating anywhere, there is one matter that must be attended first, studying! Now the big question is: How do I prepare correctly? After playing a couple of fast games on KGS and IGS at first, I noticed that my positional judgement was off, but also that I didn’t play as technical as before. Not technical meaning here, that I didn’t always play standard answers and sequences, but moves that appeared plausible to me. After having knocked some rust off I started to get back into the same old routines, which is okay if I just wanted to keep my old rank, but is kind of a hassle if you want to improve. Nothing ever changes if you cling onto old habits, to improve you need to remain flexible and open to everything new. Not only correct moves, but also false ones as they’ll help you see what you shouldn’t do and make you see how you yourself can punish such moves.

Anyway, for starters I decided to go with the Yilun Yangs Workshop lectures, which don’t really teach technical stuff, but the thought process that induces them. They really are invaluable if you want to understand the importance of playing the right way. Additionally I thought it would be a good idea to go over some Tsumego. I hope to be able to review some of my games with stronger players soon, if anyone’s interested in low-dan-game-reviews, please write a comment and let me know so I can upload them ^^

1. [26 votes] Pro game reviews
2. [21 votes] Articles on Go history and/ or players
3. [16 votes] News (Pro Go scene)
4. [14 votes] Tsumego
5. [14 votes] Pictures & Media
6. [11 votes] High dan amateur game reviews
7. [8 votes] News (Amateur Go scene)
8. [8 votes] Tournament Reports

Basically, Pro reviews are what you guys seem to be most interested in, so I will try to post some of them (as printable or maybe even PDF-versions) on the blog. As for articles on history and players, this should be a simpler task to accomplish ^^. News on the Pro Go scene go pretty much hand in hand with Pro reviews, so I’ll see if in future I can get recent tournament games commented and uploaded along with the results. However regular reviews as well as Tsumego and Go media seem to be fairly attractive too. I was nevertheless surprised that people don’t seem to hold any interest towards amateur news and tournament reports. Personally I find it thrilling to watch Europes top players compete in well-known tournaments, however Pro-related information seems to be more appreciated.

There were some rather interesting thoughts and ideas in the thread, so I’d like to cite some of them in this post.

Originally Posted by Koch on GoDiscussions.com

Vincent – have you considered a group blog, with half a dozen or so contributors posting original content as sol suggests? These type of blogs can be rather successful if everyone involved is committed to it.

The idea of making a group-blog is without a doubt a good one. However there are only very few bloggers out there and even fewer that actually regularly blog and are keen on joining a group. As much as I’d appreciate a Co-Blogger, it’s very difficult to find one.

Originally Posted by daal on GoDiscussions.com

I’d like to read interviews and profiles of prominent GD members. Why doesn’t MDobbins actually live in Philadelphia? How does Sol.ch find all those images to use as comments? Does Kirby enjoy go as much as posting? Will Bill Spight’s book include principles for 4ds? Does _____ have time to do anything else? etc.

Interviews are always a very enjoyable task. Also most of the time you will learn new things and expercience a diffrent point of view. Especially with well known players from KGS or the national Go Association.

Eventually I would like to thank everyone that voted in the poll and made suggestions in the forum, it really helps me a great deal and makes blogging easier.

I didn’t have much luck in finding any tournament results as the website only scarcely gives away information on the progress and status of the competition. However I’ll make sure to post the winner and (if available) the commented games!

Majo has informed me that the results are now available at the EGD. Here are the top 3 players:

1. Franz Josef Dickhut [6d] – 5w/0L
2. Barbara Knauf [3d]-  3W/2L
3. Terwey Matthias [4d] – 3W/2L

Yeah, well… what can I say? I was kind of busy. University and stuff is taking up a lot of time. They tend to urge you to do projects and homeworks and stuff, basically things that’ll either shorten your lifespan considerably or at very least take away most of your Go-time.

Anyway, Cho Seok-Bin’s workshop is over and thanks to my cramped schedule I couldn’t attend even one of the lectures he gave *sob*. However the guys from the Zürich Go Club were nice enough to transcribe all lessons and make them accessible in PDF. Remember, if you intend to participate at the Swiss Go Championship in 2 weeks, I suggest you better study all of this thoroughly (Josef will shatter you otherwise ). I’ll try to get my hands on the original SGF’s or create own ones to upload to the “Reviews & Lectures”-section. Until then, enjoy the PDF’s.

Guess what, there’s even more! Heretix published a video of commented pro-game with English subtitles on GoDiscussions.com. Here’s what he writes about it.

After many hours of hard work, i’ve finally finished my first video project for the Go community. I’ve added English subtitles to a video of a Chinese professional (Hua Yi Gang 8-dan) commenting on the 6th LG semi-final match between Lee Chang Ho and Cho Hun Hyun, played in 2002.

[...]

Comments and feedback for the video much appreciated.

Its my hope that this will kickstart a fansubbing community for Go videos, similar to the ones we have for anime now. There’s a treasure trove of Go videos all over the Internet, just waiting to be translated and brought to an even bigger audience!

If you’re willing to help, please contact me by sending me a PM here, or looking for me on KGS.

Edit: Making one video like this takes me days of work, and its unlikely that I can do it again unless I get some help.

The duration of the video is about 25 minutes and it’s really worth watching. It can be downloaded on Google-Videos (MP4-file) or viewed online on youtube (part 1, 2, 3)… or you can just watch them here ^^

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

“Go can’t be played by one person, you need two. One genius can’t give birth to a great game, you need to equally blessed players, two. When two finally come together the hand of god becomes one step closer”

~ Kuwabara-Sensei (Hikaru no Go, Chapter 140)

Lee Sedol (left) and Lee Chang-ho

It’s true that Go requires two players. In a Go-club or in the internet you will meet countless people that share the same interest. However sometimes a certain bond is created, a special connection between two players, rivalry.

In clubs you will often see how certain players challenge one another more often than others. So where does that urge to win against one certain person come from? Is it just the simple need to demonstrate superiority? Do we want our Go to be acknowledged by that player? Do we seek a goal that motivates us, makes us want to become stronger?

I very much like the idea of a friendly rival, the kind you can have tea with while wageing a viseral war of stones with. A certain tension between the two that gives you a sense of nastalgia when the board comes out, with memorys of near wins a tough beats. All the different types of games you have played together.
A bond if you will, through watching and forcing each other to grow stronger.

~ Tom Waits (GoDiscussions.com)

As for myself, I found it very helpful to set goals. Chasing behind players that were much stronger gives you a certain drive and changes your attitude towards the game. It becomes more competitive, you start to look above instead of being content with what you are. It can also be very depressing sometimes if you realize that your progress just doesn’t come as quickly as expected.

Do you have a rival? How does that express itself in the way you play? Post your opinions in the comments